Trapped Under Ice
by Saturn Angels
Summary: AU. LarvaMiyu. Mysterious passengers arrive on board the cruise ship, 'Light of the Sea'. (Not good at summaries but I promise you'll luv it!) Chapter 3 up!
1. Chapter One: Many Meetings

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, anything at all! Vampire Princess Miyu belongs to…Narumi Kakinouchi and other peoplez. So, just R/R!  
  
Translations:   
  
Kuso: shit  
Baka: idiot   
Kyumeiboto: lifeboat  
Hayaku: hurry up  
Matsu: hold on  
Shimpai shinai de: Don't worry!  
Nani: What  
  
Trapped Under Ice  
Chapter One  
By:  
Fantasy Girl (Saturn Angels)  
  
  
All onboard the 'Light of the Sea' watched the girl closely; she had just sort of shown up one night on the ship without a passport or anything, it was like she just appeared out of thin air. No one saw her climb aboard, and she was never a passenger. She kept to herself so no information on her could really be discovered. Men talked about her while playing their usual game of poker, or some other form of gambling. One group of men in particular sat playing a 'fair' game of poker, they were the men whom every girl on board whether young or old wanted to bed. They played their game of poker off to the side of the ship's dining area, or rather bar.  
  
"Royal Flush," one man said as he placed his cards out on the table for the other men to see. The others grumbled angrily then one stood and threw his cards down on the table angrily.  
  
"Damn it to hell! Larva! You're cheating! I'd swear by it! No one can win fifteen times in a row!" He yelled causing many of the other travelers to stare at them, most though just continued minding their own business: this had happened every night.  
  
"Well it seems to me I can," Larva said as he leaned back a bit in his chair contently.  
  
"Why you! I've had enough of your lies! Where are you hiding those extra cards huh?" the man bellowed as he slammed his fist down on the poker table causing one of the other men's drinks to spill a bit.  
  
"Calm down Garline! It's just a game! You'll win your money back like you usually do…" Lemures said as he pointed to Garline's chair, which had earlier been discarded when he had stood so quickly.  
  
Garline closed his eyes as he began to calm down, he picked up the fallen chair and sat down, he cleared his throat, "Alright then. That's enough poker for the night…"  
  
"So what do we do now?" Larva asked as he put his head in his hands supported by the table.  
  
"Anything interesting happening?" Lemures asked dully as he began to put the cards playing cards away.  
  
Just then their 'favorite' brunette waitress bounded over to them grinning, "actually something interesting did happen…"  
  
They turned to look at her.  
  
Garline raised an eyebrow at her, "And what would that be Chisato?"  
  
Chisato cleared her throat, "Well…you see that girl over there? The one in the corner?" she asked pointing her out so they could spot her.  
  
They all nodded a bit so she continued, "Do you recognize her?" she asked still keeping her normal smiling façade.  
  
"No…she doesn't look familiar," Lemures said as he watched the girl in the corner carefully.  
  
Chisato giggled, "No one else recognizes her either!"  
  
"Should we recognize her?" Larva asked as he too studied the girl in the corner whom was too far into the shadows to see fully.  
  
"Nope. At least I don't think you should recognize her…I mean no one else recognizes her and-"  
  
Garline cut her off becoming easily annoyed with her ramblings, "What is the point Chisato?"  
  
"Oh yes! Haha, I almost forgot. Yeah, well anyway she seems to have just appeared on board a few nights ago. Out of thin air…like a ghost! She has no passport or other form of identification…so many people are afraid of her, they say she's cruel and has a heart of ice…No one's ever spoken to her…"  
  
"How would they know she was cruel with a heart of ice, if no one has spoken to her?" Garline pointed out the obvious and the girl blushed furiously and was silent for a moment.  
  
"It's just what I've heard Sir Garline. If you don't need anything I'll be on my way!" She gave one last grin that ran off to some other impatient customer.  
  
The men sighed with relief, "Finally gone," Lemures muttered thankfully.  
  
The others nodded in agreement, though it was only Garline that nodded Larva was too busy watching the girl sitting in the corner.  
  
"Hey Larva…why don't you go talk to her? Find out if she's a ghost or not!" Lemures suggested with a sly smile.  
  
"How would I find that out?" he asked with a raised eyebrow as he turned finally towards the other group members at the table.  
  
"Easy. No woman could resist your…charms…and good looks; it'll be a trouble-free job…" Lemures said simply as if everyone had such 'knowledge'. "If she ignores you she's a ghost or …well I don't want to know the 'or', and if she's normal…well we won't be seeing you tonight" he added with a small laugh.  
  
"And what would I get out of it?" Larva asked as he rolled his eyes.  
  
Garline thought for a moment, "Well just in case she's unsightly or hideous…which she might be, I mean you can't really see her face well from here, you will be paid…all of our money," he said finally.  
  
Larva's eyes widened at this, Garline was a man of his word and if he promised that he would give Larva the moon he'd find a way to do it, "Agreed." Larva said with a nod as he pushed his chair from the table and stood upright.  
  
"Hey! What do you mean our money?" Lemures asked stressing the word 'our'.  
  
"It was your idea," Garline pointed out and Lemures sighed and shrugged mumbling something about his stupid ideas.  
  
Larva slowly made his way to the corner table many of the women turning to watch him walk. He stopped in front of the girl's table and pulled up a chair to sit. She watched him closely her golden eyes flashing as she regarded him quietly. Silence passed and Larva finally realizing that she wasn't going to start the speaking started the conversation, "Good evening…my name is Larva Minsha (A/N: Shinma rearranged. Heehee), and you would be…?"  
  
"Miyu." she stated simply and went back to staring at the table. During the silence that followed Larva studied her features trying to find out as much about her as possible. Her hair was dark brown; not rare but a bit uncommon onboard that ship. Her complexion was extremely pale, but her eyes for the most part were what completely fascinated Larva…he'd never seen one with such an odd color…hazel he had seen…but never before had he seen gold unless it was on some painting or on a gold coin. After he had studied her long enough he spoke again, "It is a beautiful evening and it is getting rather crowded in here, would you like to go out and get some fresh air?"  
  
She was silent for a moment and he was about to ask again or back away when she finally pushed her chair back and stood up, he stood also and let her lead the way outside onto the deck.  
  
Garline and Lemures watched the two leave. "She's not that bad looking…" Garline said as he got a good sight of her when she walked out.  
  
"You couldn't even see her face though…" Lemures pointed out turning to Garline with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"So? I was talking about her figure you idiot," he said as if it should be obvious.  
  
"…" Lemures only rolled his eyes, "Well…while we're waiting what say you to a game of poker?"  
  
"Only the two of us?" Garline asked confused, for everyone knows to have a really good poker game with a lot of money, there must be at least three players.  
  
Lemures shook his head, "No. We'll go and get Hisae and Yukari…this is my plan: we lose all our money to them…and pay Larva what we have left which would be…hardly anything. Then later on after he's paid…we win our money back from Hisae and Yukari! I mean they're really easy to beat at any card game anyway, it should be a piece of cake."   
  
Garline thought the plan over then finally nodded, "Fine…now we have to go and find them," he added and they both got up and left to find Yukari and Hisae's room.  
  
Meanwhile…  
  
Outside Larva stood against the railing gazing up at the night sky that was full of stars, "It's breathtaking isn't it?" he whispered; you see men never used the word beautiful unless speaking about women instead they used: breathtaking, amazing, incredible, spectacular, etc.  
  
Miyu watched the ocean rather then the stars, she sat on the railing next to the standing form of Larva her legs hanging off the ship though she stood still, balancing elegant and perfectly her shoulder against his; "mm," she answered not really paying any attention to what he was saying.  
  
He turned to look at her noticing that she wasn't even looking up.   
  
"It's strange isn't it?" Miyu asked quietly speaking in monotone.   
  
He looked at her quizzically, "What's strange?"   
  
"The sea…so deep, dark, cold, and quiet. There are so many sunken ships and spirits down there…I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a ghost ship…or at least a ghost. I wonder…if you drown, will you ever make it to the bottom of the ocean? Where it's an endless dark? Or would you…stay in the middle until your body decayed and nothing was left of you?" she said quietly as she continued staring down at the dark waters.  
  
"…You have a very strange mind," Larva said with a slight smile, "At any rate I don't think anyone would really live to find out how deep they sank, but tell me, if you were to fall off the ship what would you do?"  
  
She tore her gaze finally from the ocean to look at Larva, "I'm not going to fall off." She answered at last.  
  
He only smirked at her in return, "And who's to say you won't somehow lose your balance?" he removed his weight from the railing to move behind her.  
  
She turned her head and back so she could look at him a bit better, "I am to say I won't lose my balance"  
  
He smiled a bit, "I had a feeling you'd say something like that…how did you get on this ship? And why?"  
  
"I came like any normal person, I walked on board, and I came for a reason I'm not about to tell you about." She answered annoyed at the direction this was heading.  
  
"Do you want to go for a swim?" he asked changing the subject totally.  
  
"What?" she asked surprised, "I wasn't aware that this ship had a swimming pool,"  
  
"It doesn't," he said with a devious smile as he pushed her off.  
  
She fell silently into the ocean waters and hit the surface with a splash when her head reappeared above water she was glaring, "Why did you do that?" she asked loud enough for him to hear from where he was still standing on board, dry.  
  
"Why not?" he asked laughing a bit, "The water is warm and there aren't any dangerous creatures down there..." he paused slightly, "besides sharks…but they don't come out at night…for your sake I hope," he laughed a little.  
  
She looked around worriedly, "Sharks?" she asked as she turned her head left and right anxiously expecting to see the dorsal fin breaking the water heading towards her. She looked up at Larva to see another figure right behind him, she smirked a bit as she realized whom it was.   
  
"Hey! You! The blue-haired devil! It's not right to invite a girl to go swimming and not join her!" the blonde then proceeded in pushing the shocked Larva off the deck.  
  
Larva fell in with a greater splash then Miyu, Miyu laughed a bit and looked up on board to wave at her friend, "Arigatou gozaimashita Lilith," Miyu said waving with one hand while she treaded in the water not using her arms.  
  
Lilith only smiled, "No problem! I'll go get towels for you guys…wait no never mind. I'll go and get a towel for you then I'll lower one of the life boats for you and…no just for you. The blue-haired devil can drown."   
  
Miyu almost laughed at what Lilith was saying the watched her go through one of the doors off to get them some towels. Miyu sighed a bit and looked around waiting for Larva's head to appear above water. It finally did…and his face showed a bit more then annoyance.   
  
"Who was that?" He asked as he swam closer to Miyu.  
  
"My friend." She answered plainly without giving any more details.   
  
He was about to ask more about her friend then thought it would be rude considering he was with her not with her friend. He drew a deep breath so he would float easier, "It's warm," he commented making idle conversation.   
  
She shrugged a bit then a look of worry crossed over her features, "Are you sure sharks don't come out at night?"  
  
He laughed a bit, "Miyu, there aren't any sharks at all. I was just joking," he paused as he looked behind her looking apprehensively, "Miyu…I don't want you to be frightened…but what's that!?" he yelled pointing behind her.  
  
She turned around quickly and clung onto Larva's arm fearfully, as soon as she had noticed that there was nothing there she growled and slapped Larva, "How dare you do that?" she asked angrily.   
  
Larva, getting over the shock of being slapped replied, "How dare I do what? I seriously thought I saw something!" He looked behind her again and shouted, "It's right there!"   
  
She looked around her anxiously and once again nothing was there. She growled, "Stop doing that!"  
  
He laughed a bit, "Alright fine I'll stop…" he paused momentarily and with a sigh looked around, "Is your friend going to lower a lifeboat anytime soon?"  
  
"I don't know. She should be back soon…" Miyu replied looking towards the ship.  
  
Larva shrugged, "Alright…" His eyes widened a bit and Miyu turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow once she realized what he was about to do she glared at him, "Stop it! It's not funny. I won't fall for it again."  
  
He remained quiet as he stared behind her, "…Miyu…I'm not joking…" he said slowly as he watched something behind her.  
  
Miyu frowned a bit and she bit her lower lip, "…Larva…" she mumbled barely moving her lips, "You're just kidding right?" she would prefer it if he was joking again…she had a slight fear of sharks as do most people when they're in the middle of the ocean with no land or lifeboat nearby with a shark within twenty feet of where you are standing…especially hungry sharks.  
  
He shook his head slightly. No. She whimpered a bit afraid to turn around, "Where is it?" she whispered wanting to go closer to him for safety but too afraid to move.   
  
"Behind you…off to the side a bit, there are two of them…" he replied slowly his eyes still watching the sharks.  
  
"Near or far?" she asked her breathing becoming a bit quicker in fear.  
  
"…Near…" he answered finally.  
  
She bit her lower lip, "Coming or leaving?"  
  
He was silent for a moment as he frowned, "coming closer," he answered hesitantly.  
  
She groaned and closed her eyes praying for someone to save them.  
  
"Hey Miyu! I'm back!" Lilith said from the ship, "I brought two towels you know, I thought I'd be nice…you wouldn't believe all I had to go through to get…" she stopped suddenly mid-sentence, "Kuso!!" she cried suddenly, "Miyu!! Get out of the water!! Sharks! Two of them!!!"  
  
"Kyumeiboto!" Miyu yelled suddenly, "Hayaku!"   
  
Lilith quickly nodded and went to lower a lifeboat.  
  
Meanwhile…  
  
"Flush," Hisae said while placing down her cards.  
  
"…Nothing," Garline said exasperated while he lay down his cards. Hisae grinned with delight as she won again.  
  
"You really have bad luck today don't you Garline?" She asked once she had collected the money.  
  
"I guess so…" he said sadly.  
  
"Yeah, you and Lemures both have very bad luck today," added Yukari strangely, "Are you losing on purpose?"  
  
"No! We wouldn't do that…" Lemures said quickly, "I mean…we love money!"  
  
Yukari and Hisae shrugged well at any rate they were a lot richer.  
  
"Another round ladies?" Garline asked shuffling the cards.  
  
"Alright, I'll try my luck with one more game then I'm going to sleep," Hisae said as she looked at her watch.  
  
Garline nodded, this time they had to bet everything left…then fold just in case they had a pair.  
  
In the mean time…  
  
"Hurry!!" Miyu cried again to Lilith who was lowering the lifeboat at an extremely slow rate.  
  
"Hey! If I lower it too quickly then it'll be dangerous to everything around it! It could hit the ship and we all could be in the water! I'm sure the sharks wouldn't mind! They'd go on a feeding rampage!"   
  
Miyu by this time had already swam to Larva and was now hanging onto him her arms around his neck feeling much safer. Why she felt safer with him, the world may never know, but it was much the same feeling you get when you're a child and go to sleep with your parents afraid that dinosaurs were going to attack or something.   
  
The sharks by this time had already begun circling them and a thought entered Miyu's mind actually many thoughts. Her first thought was that she was going to be eaten by sharks. The second was that everything was Larva's fault. The third was …how were they going to swim over to the lifeboat?   
  
"There! The lifeboat is ready Miyu! ...Ano…how will you get there?" she asked voicing the main question on Miyu's mind. Miyu looked up at her with a glare, "Distract the sharks! I don't know just help us!!"  
  
"What's the magic word?" Lilith asked grinning a bit.  
  
"Lilith just help!" Miyu cried angrily.  
  
"Magic word!" Lilith repeated crossing her arms across her chest stubbornly.  
  
"Please!" Miyu said quickly as she felt the something pass by her legs, her face drained from what little color it had, "Larva…what would happen if I fainted?"   
  
"You'd probably never wake up…" he replied softly watching the dorsal fins with growing worry.  
  
"Lilith!!" Miyu yelled.  
  
"Matsu!!! I just have to do something quick! Don't worry! Matsu!" Miyu watched anxiously as Lilith thought about the situation over and over, she quickly had an idea, "I'll be right back! Shimpai shinai de!" she cried as she ran inside. A few seconds later she reappeared holding a bucket, "Fish guts! Fish guts and fish blood!!" She cried as she ran to the far end of the ship and dumped it into the water.  
  
The sharks immediately smelled the blood and headed towards it quickly.   
  
"Swim!" Lilith cried, "Quickly!"  
  
Miyu, who felt as if she couldn't move; was grateful that Larva was there because he began swimming with her still clinging onto him towards the lifeboat. Once they got close enough he lifted her up into the lifeboat, then followed.  
  
Everyone including Lilith let out a great sigh of relief.  
  
"Great…" muttered Miyu from her place on the lifeboat. "Lilith? Bring us up now!" she yelled.  
  
Lilith paused for a moment, "…I don't know how…"  
  
"NANI!?" Miyu cried angrily, she was in a cross mood, who wouldn't be after being nearly eaten?  
  
"Hold on…I'll umm…go get someone who knows how…"  
  
"Damn it." Miyu muttered as Lilith ran off to find someone.  
  
"Think she'll come back?" Larva asked he too watching Lilith run off.  
  
"Knowing Lilith she'll probably wait until the crack of dawn then suddenly come back shouting, 'Look Miyu! I found someone! We'll have you up in no time!' if we're lucky enough to have her come back that early. Possibly afternoon or something, every once and a while she sleeps late." Miyu sat down in the lifeboat, though at the bottom of it, not on the seats.  
  
He smirked a bit, "Well…I guess there's nothing to do but wait…Want to go for another swim?" he asked jokingly.  
  
"No." she answered snappily.  
  
He laughed slightly at her reaction and sat down next to her and waited for 'Lilith' to return with someone who knew how to get the boat back up.  
~*~*~*~  
To be continued...  
  
Fantasy Girl: Well? Who's better at Vampire Princess Miyu fics, me or Thor? Me you say? I thought so!! bahahaha! So go and read my other fic "Read the Signs" it's getting so neglected! my poor poor story... *sniffle* Anyway ...  
  
PLEASE REVIEW, it would be greatly appreciated. 


	2. Chapter Two: Poker and other things

Disclaimer: I DO own Vampire Princess Miyu!  
*sniper bullet whizzes past and shatters her coffee glass*  
…Did I say DO? I meant…DO NOT! Yeah *nervous sweatdrop*  
  
Fantasy Girl: Thank you all for your reviews. They were much appreciated!   
  
And to Rociellac (I spelled that right, right?) Of course it's hard to tell where it's leading! It's gonna have a bunch of twists and I'm going to try my hand at humor. Did I ever say that she appeared out of thin air for sure? Noooo, that's just what everyone thinks since they hadn't actually taken notice of her until the ship was halfway through it's voyage. So, carry on!  
  
Translations:  
dókò ka e ikú = Go away  
hentai = sexual pervert  
ecchi = pervert!  
  
Trapped Under Ice  
Chapter Two  
By:  
Fantasy Girl (Saturn Angels)  
  
  
Sometime later…  
  
Miyu woke up only to be blinded by the sunlight that poured in through her window. No, scratch that the sunlight that was all around her, she realized finally that she was still in the lifeboat. 'Jeez…how long did it take Lilith this time to get someone to raise the damn lifeboat?' she wondered as she realized that it was probably around eight o'clock in the morning now. She turned to her left to see Larva's face possibly only centimeters away from her own though he was fast asleep. The color rose to her cheeks and it was then that she realized a couple of other things: Larva's long trench-coat type jacket was being used as a blanket between the two, and one of Larva's arms was around her waist. She blinked and gently moved his arm so it rested by him, not around her. He mumbled something in his sleep and shifted slightly so that his head was buried in Miyu's hair and his arm was once again around her. She grumbled some and tried to free herself from his grasp only to come to the conclusion that the more she struggled the more she would get pulled in. Like quicksand. So, the only solution was to wake him up. Before she had the chance to do that though two men came walking along the deck to spot Miyu and Larva in a lifeboat together.  
  
"Look at that. She is human," Lemures said with a slight nod.   
  
Garline turned his attention to the girl in the lifeboat with his best friend, "Looks like Larva got lucky. I guess we owe Larva a dollar…" he added.  
  
"Fifty cents." Lemures corrected.  
  
Garline grinned, "The sooner we give him …all we have… the sooner we can win all of our money back."  
  
"Though it is a bit unfair to Larva…" Lemures said thoughtfully. The two looked at each other then shrugged their shoulders saying in unison, "Oh well."  
  
Miyu squirmed around for a few more seconds before kicking Larva very hard in that one place that a woman should never, ever kick unless really pissed off.  
  
Larva needless to say awakened immediately, his face contorted in pain as he bit his bottom lip, "What the hell did you do that for!?" he asked, his voice sounded high-pitched and girlish.   
  
Miyu just smiled innocently at him before exiting the lifeboat in a huff.   
  
"Hey, Miyu! I was just going to … wake you…?" Lilith said as Miyu stopped in front of her glaring, "Um…something wrong Miyu-chan?"  
  
"…Why didn't you wake me up?" Miyu asked angrily.  
  
"Because. You…didn't want to. Every time I came back to wake you'd only say, 'ne… dókò ka e ikú' then snuggle closer to the blue haired guy."  
  
Miyu flushed slightly at this and put her hands on her hips.  
  
Lilith grinned then held up at least $500,000, in American money.  
  
"Wh-where'd you get that!?" Miyu asked staring at the large sum.  
  
"I don't know! I was bored earlier this morning and I ran into two girls, their names were…Yukari…and Hisae or something. They lost the money to me! They were so easy! And I asked if they wanted at least half the money back and Hisae told me that they had won it last night! So I gave them $1000 back, some sorry poker players to have lost that much money to them!" Lilith said as her eyes became shiny and distant, "I can't wait to spend it…"  
  
Miyu smiled lightly, "Yeah, well once we get to Japan we'll be able to!"  
  
Lilith did a small victory dance, "You see Miyu! I told you climbing aboard the boat was a good thing! For a moment when that tall guy pushed you off the boat, I thought for a moment that he was one of the authorities here and found out that we had snuck on board. Thankfully he wasn't…I just hope this voyage ends soon! I'm getting a bit seasick."  
  
Miyu smirked, "Well it serves you right."  
  
"Do they have any gift shops on board!? I'd love to buy a new dress for that ballroom dance that's coming up soon on this ship!"  
  
Miyu smiled as Lilith dragged her away back into the main hall of the ship…only to find that there was in fact a whole section devoted to goods, like a mini-mall.  
  
Somewhere else…  
  
"Well, where's my pay?" Larva asked after recovering from his accident.  
  
Garline and Lemures were trying not to laugh at the poor soul.  
  
'Just be glad she wasn't wearing high-heels.' Lemures had said while shaking with silenced laughter.  
  
"Your pay?" Garline asked.  
  
"My pay." Larva repeated becoming a bit suspicious.  
  
"Lemures, get Larva his pay."  
  
"Yes, sir." Lemures answered and dug around in one of his pockets and pulled out two bronze coins and handed them to Larva. "Your pay." Lemures said trying to hide his smirk. The plan was ingenious.   
  
Larva stared at the two coins that were placed in his palm. He had endured sharks, a girl with a temper, fear, and pain…for 50 cents? "Wha…?" he asked completely confused, "Where's the rest of it!?"  
  
"That, dear Larva is all that is left. Unfortunately Hisae and Yukari play better poker when they are drunk." Garline explained.  
  
Larva was at a loss for words, "…Yukari and Hisae?" he pondered.  
  
"Yes, those would be their names."  
  
"The ones we always win against!?" Larva asked angered.  
  
"Um…yeah?" Lemures said uncertainly.  
  
Larva's breathing was now very ragged as he ran towards Garline and lifted him up by the collar of his shirt, "You. Are. Going. To. Win. BACK. The. Money." Larva said containing his anger while enunciating each word.   
  
Unfortunately for Garline and Lemures…they were cowards and of course ran quickly from Larva to find Hisae and Yukari…not knowing that someone else wa in possession of their money.  
  
A few minutes later…  
  
"What do you mean you LOST it?" Lemures asked panicking.  
  
"We lost the money, fair and square to this kind girl named Lilith. She was actually kind enough to give us $1000 back."  
  
"Let us have it!" Garline demanded.  
  
"…Unfortunately we took that $1000 and bought new dresses for ourselves." Hisae explained simply.  
  
Lemures and Garline were at a loss for words.   
  
"Actually, I bet Ms. Lilith is probably out buying a dress now, what with the dance coming up."  
  
"Thank you!" Lemures said as he and Garline ran out the door.  
  
"I wonder what that was about?" Yukari wondered with a raised eyebrow. The two shrugged then just went back to watching television.  
  
Another place on the ship…  
  
Lemures and Garline rushed into the mall section of the ship only to find there were two shops that sold dresses.  
  
"You go to that one and I'll go in this one!" Garline commanded as he rushed into the more expensive stores of the two.   
  
Lemures searched everywhere, then realized he didn't even know what this 'Lilith' looked like…  
  
Garline on the other hand opened the door to the shop, the cahier woman giving him a strange look as it was a woman's clothing store.  
  
"Can I help you…sir?" The woman asked.  
  
"Do you know a Lilith, is she in this store?"  
  
"Oh yes! Ms. Lilith! A lovely lady if I may say so myself! She never mentioned she had a boyfriend…"  
  
"Er…yeah. Is she here?"  
  
"Yes. She's with her friend in the back trying on dresses." The woman said with a kind smile.  
  
"Thank you." Garline mumbled as he walked to the back of the store ignoring the woman's shouts of, "Sir! Sir! You can't go back there! They're CHANGING!"  
  
He burst open the back door and after about half a millisecond of silence, Lilith let out a loud stream of curses and Miyu, who was in a separate room wondered what was going on.  
  
"Hentai! Hentai! Hentai! Ecchi! Ecchi! HENTAI!!!!!!!!!" Lilith cried and there were loud shouts, obviously male which shouted, "No! I didn't mean to! I though! Are you Lilith..?"  
  
"STALKER!!!!!!!!!!!" Lilith cried then ran out of the room into the front of the store, her dress clinging around her waist and her white button up t-shirt open though luckily she was wearing a bra.  
  
"Lilith! What happened?" Miyu asked as she ran to where Lilith was searching for a weapon of some sort.  
  
"This always happens when you get money, Miyu!" Lilith complained, "no good, perverted stalkers after your money!"   
  
A few seconds later Garline came out of the dressing room where Lilith had just finished giving him quite a beating, why were women's purses so heavy, and their shoes so damned sharp?   
  
"Listen! I'm not trying to harm you…I just want your money--" Garline said then was interrupted by Lilith.  
  
"That's comforting!"  
  
Miyu and Lilith got into a fighting stance, which looked rather silly as the top half of Lilith's dress was hanging down to her knees and Miyu looked…silly only because she was wearing a pink dress…which Lilith had dared Miyu to try on.  
  
"No, just listen! The money you have is mine! I intentionally lost it in a poker game to Hisae and Yukari so we could pay Larva practically nothing but now he demands it back!"  
  
Miyu raised an eyebrow when she heard Larva's name and Lilith and Miyu glanced at each other unsurely.  
  
"He tells the truth." Lemures said walking into the store, "I see you found Lilith?"  
  
"The only way you're going to get any money back at all…is you play me for the money. Miyu, you can't play." Lilith said as she immediately held a finger up to silence Miyu's protest, "One on one, me versus the pervert. Deal?" she asked looking at Garline with confidence.  
  
"Deal!" he said with a wide smile, no one could beat him at poker.  
  
In Miyu's and Lilith's room…  
  
"This way we can have a fair game, no waitresses that help you cheat, no false dealers. Are you ready?" Lilith asked as she sat down at the poker table.  
  
"As ready as ever." Garline said.  
  
Lilith pulled out a bunch of poker chips and distributed them evenly she began shuffling the cards, "A game of seven or five?" she asked.  
  
"Five."  
  
Lilith nodded as she gave herself and him five cards. They picked up and looked at their cards in unison.   
  
Garline took two cards from his pile and put them on the table. Lilith took only one. She gave him the two cards he asked for and got her own one card.   
  
They kept their faces unreadable.  
  
"You first." Lilith said with a sweet smile.  
  
Garline put down his cards, full house.  
  
Lilith pouted and Garline reached to take the poker chips when Lilith put a hand on his arm signaling for him to stop, "Not so fast…" she placed her cards on the table, "Read them and weep." Four of a kind.  
  
"You got lucky…" he muttered as she took her winnings.  
  
This time Garline was the dealer.  
  
Garline put down three cards and Lilith put down four.  
  
Garline ended up with a straight, and Lilith with a straight flush. After a while Garline ran out of poker chips.  
  
"I need to get that money back!" he said desperately.  
  
"You have nothing to give me." Lilith reasoned as she motioned to her piles of chips.   
  
Garline looked around for an idea, but found none.  
  
Lilith was silent for a moment, "If you want the money that bad…" she said slowly as she pulled the money out.  
  
"Thank you! Oh most merciful of beings!" Garline said as he reached out to take the money.  
  
"We can always play strip poker."  
  
"Wha-what!?" Garline asked outraged.  
  
"You know, you give me an article of clothing, or jewelry if I win a game, and vice versa." Lilith explained.  
  
"I know what it is!"  
  
"So what's stopping you? It's just you and me. Miyu and Lemures are outside, you need the money. What alternatives are there?"  
  
"Alright." Garline said after a moment of debate.  
  
So the game went on until Garline was in his pants -and that was all he was in - and Lilith had yet to give up any clothing.   
  
Finally! Garline got lucky, "Royal Flush." He had a 10, a Jack, a Queen, a King, and an Ace of hearts, then to his utter horror Lilith just began giggling madly.  
  
"Give me your pants, Garline."   
  
Sure, he had heard many women say that to him but never was he so confused and horrified at having this said to him, "What do you mean? I won!"  
  
"I'm sorry, Garline. I truly am. Royal Flush of spades…and as everyone knows a royal flush of spades is the highest you can get. So hand 'em over."  
  
Garline muttered something about cheating under his breath as he took his pants off and threw them at Lilith now only in his boxers. (I like boxers more then underwear so *sticks tongue out* bweh)   
  
Yet he chanced one more game sure that his luck would come and rescue him.  
  
"You're cheating," Garline said in the middle of Lilith's distribute of the cards.  
  
"Miyu never cheats." She paused slightly, "And I hardly ever have to."   
  
Luckily, amazingly, finally, Garline won this round with a full house, while Lilith only had a straight.  
  
Lilith stared at the cards in disbelief, "Whaaaa?"  
  
"Your shirt," Garline said with a smile pressing at the edges of his lips.  
  
Lilith swore under her breath and discarded her shirt, leaving only her bra to cover her upper portion, and threw the shirt into his face, which he caught.  
  
That was when a few cards fell out of one of the sleeves. He glanced at the cards then looked suspiciously at Lilith.  
  
"Extra cards, huh? …You lying, cheating!" Before he even finished his sentence she got up out of her chair and her chased her out of the room, a few things broke and clattered in their game of tag and finally she was cornered against one of the beds.  
  
"You said you didn't cheat!"  
  
"I never said I didn't lie!" Lilith said trying to buy time.  
  
"You… careless, wench!" he yelled then pounced on her then tried to strangle her.  
  
It was of course at this time that Miyu and Lilith entered the room.  
  
"We heard the crash-" Miyu started then stopped short as she entered the room and witnessed a strange sight.  
  
"…I hope, we're not interrupting anything?" Lemures said slyly as he looked at the pile of discarded clothes then at the two who were on the bed, on topless and the other wearing nothing but his boxers.  
  
Lilith and Garline looked at each other then flushed for a full millisecond before Lilith kicked him off her, "Hentai!" she cried and he sprawled across the floor.  
  
"I'm guessing you lost?" Lemures asked as Garline was tossed out of the room.  
  
"Shut up." Garline replied as he pulled up his pants and put on his shirt.  
  
"We're obviously going to have to find a different way to get the money back…" Lemures acknowledged with a nod.  
  
"Obviously." Garline muttered in an foul mood as he clenched his jaw and the two walked back to try and persuade Larva to give them more time.  
  
~*~*~  
To be continued...  
  
Fantasy Girl: Lol, I had fun writing this chapter. Lol, can you tell I enjoy playing poker? ^_^ teehee.  
  
PLEASE REVIEW! It would mean more chapter updates for you! 


	3. Chapter Three: Shortlasting

**Disclaimer:** I OWN EVERYTHING!! MUWAHAHAHAHAHAH-- stares at guy with gun oo except Vampire Princess Miyu.

Fantasy Girl: Thank you all for your reviews. and I'm very sorry it's taking so long with this fic, sorry a bazillion times!

Thor: Is that even a real number?

Vale: Probably not.

Fantasy Girl: ...;

Translations:  
shinsen na kuki wa kenko ni ii = fresh air does you good

Trapped Under Ice  
Chapter Three  
By:  
Fantasy Girl (Saturn Angels)

"You mean you couldn't get the money back from Yukari and Hisae?" Larva asked, his feet firmly placed on the wooden poker table infront of him.

"That's an insult to the Gods of poker." Lemures said, pushing Larva's feet off of the table.

Larva snorted, "And you not being able to win against Yukari and Hisae ISN'T an insult to the God of Poker?" Larva asked.

Garline fidgeted, moving around the room and sifting through the drawers to pull out clothing for himself.

"And why is Garline half naked?" Larva asked, pointing towards his brunette friend.

"You see, it wasn't Yukari and Hisae that we had to play. It was some girl named Lilith, Yukari and Hisae lost the money to her right after they won it from us."

"Lilith?" Larva asked, having a brief flashback of the blonde who had pushed him overboard.

Garline nodded, "Though she does have nic--"

Lemures shot his friend a look and he rolled his eyes, "So, we need more time. It appears that Garline can't win against her at poker so we'll have to find a different way to get the money."

"And what did you have in mind?" Larva asked unamused by the current situation.

"Ah... sneak into their bedrooms during the dance tonight and take it from them?"

Larva laughed aloud at Garline's suggestion before becoming all seriousness once more, "What if Lilith spends all the money by then? You know women, all they need is money to be happy. And $500,000 can go by fast..."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Lemures asked.

"Well that's your problem isn't it?" Larva asked with a sly smile.

"Oh come on!" Garline said, buttoning up a white longsleeve shirt, leaving the top three unbuttoned. "Why are you making such a big fuss out of it? You went and had a good time with a girl because we bribed you too-- and you still expect us to pay you? Nothing really happened between you-- you didn't sleep together in the other sense so we really don't have to pay you."

"The deal was just to go up to her and flirt." Larva corrected, "Which I did."

"Though the flirting was of your own free will." Lemures pointed out.

"And how would you know that? You two were too busy being cowards and losing all your money just to win it back later to weasel out of having to pay me."

Garline and Lemures stared at their companion, then they both shrugged in unison and commented at the same time, "So?"

"So... if anything you should pay me more than what you had before." said Larva with a dull sort of smile.

"Now you're just trying to find out a way to get yourself more money. Which I'm not going to agree to. Idiot." Garline said, folding his arms across his chest.

"Why don't we just strike another deal and call it even? Larva's no poorer for it, he's actually 50 cents richer anyway." Lemures suggested.

"But I'm supposed to be $50,000 richer." Larva said, rolling his eyes upwards, "Which is far better than 50 cents."

"What isn't better than 50 cents?" Lemures said, though it was a rhetorical question anyway. "Now, How about-- if Garline seduces Lilith then we'll call it even?"

"Why me?" Garline asked.

"Because she's already seen you practically naked."

"So?"

"So that makes you the obvious choice, now quit whining. What do you ay Larva?"

Larva stared at the two as if they had gone crazy, "Has the sea gotten to your head or something? What good does Garline seducing Lilith do me?"

Lemures shrugged, "He'll be less anal retentive."

Garline, of course as anyone would, took offense to this statement while Larva simply pretended to nod and agree to it.

"No." Larva shook his head, "It is rather very sad that you can think of nothing better than that..."

"Get Garline to seduce Miyu then." Lemures continued.

"No." Larva answered, this time serious and much quickly than before.

"Why?" Garline asked suspiciously, "Don't tell me... you're fond of the girl?" he questioned, noticing how curtly he had responded to Lemures' fake suggestion.

"It's not everyday your life is put in the line and you wait up all night listening to a girl's life story as you wait for her friend to raise a damn lifeboat."

"See? You had a good time with her last night, if we pay you then it makes your memories seem fake..." Lemures said in a calm tone though the prospect was making him anxious-- if only Larva would take the bait then their debt would be completely erased...

"All right, Garline if you seduce Lilith tonight at the dance then I'll forget about you ripping me off."

"Deal." Lemures said with a grin, without giving Garline a choice.

"You better start getting ready Garline," Larva said with a smile (which to Garline seemed cruel), "you want to look your best don't you?"

Garline muttered to himself, "I'll go take a shower then."

"Better hurry though, the banquet's in around 2 hours..." Lemures said.

"Yeah, yeah..." Garline muttered dejectedly heading into the bathroom and slamming the door behind him.

"Think I should tell him we don't have any towels?" Larva asked with a slight grin.

"Nah, let him find out on his own." Lemures replied with a laugh.

"Well, you've put me through this, we're putting Garline through it, I wonder when it will be your turn, Lemures?" Larva asked.

"There's only one girl for me..." Lemures sighed wistfully than chuckled, "Actually I'm planning on being a bachelor my whole life. I'm not into the whole find the love of your life on a boat thing."

Larva smirked, "There are plenty of fish in the sea, and plenty of girls on this boat. We'll find one or the other for you."

Lemures chuckled once more, "That's what you say now, but it's not going to happen. But that does remind me, are you going to go to the dance?" he asked.

Larva shook his head, "No, I don't see any reason to..."

"I hear they have great food."

"I ate down at the bar not too long ago, I couldn't eat more even if I tried."

"But it's not until another two hours," Lemures pointed out. "Are you meeting someone or something?"

"If I'm lucky." Larva replied with a soft smile, and amazingly it wasn't the usual mocking sort that he displayed.

Lemures laughed and shook his head, "Sometimes I worry about you Larva..."

Larva smirked and shrugged, "It happens.."

Somewhere else.

"I'm wearing this dress, what do you think?" Lilith asked.

Miyu looked over to her blonde friend and the pale blue, form fitting dress she had just bought. She shrugged, "It matches your eyes?" she commented.

"But does it look good?" Lilith asked again, turning slightly.

Miyu nodded, "Yes."

Lilith grinned happily, "Good! Because I'm going to have fun tonight-- we're going to have fun tonight. I'm going to make every man there fall in love with me."

"I'm not going to the dance." Miyu said, causing her friend to look at her blankly.

"What do you mean you're not going?" Lilith asked, "You _have_ to go!"

"No, I don't. Plus I have nothing to wear and they don't sell anything that I would want to wear so don't even suggest that."

Lilith pouted, "But Miyu... what are you going to do then?"

"Probably just go up on deck since everyone will be busy at the ball anyway-- have some real quiet time to myself you know... I haven't had that in a long time."

"Yes you have!" Lilith replied, "That's practically all you have! You're always locked up in this room..."

"Well I need quiet time to myself with fresh air included. How's that?"

"So help me Miyu I **will** drag you there."

"Lilith-chan, you know what you used to always say to me: shinsen na kuki wa kenko ni ii." Miyu said with a smug smile.

"You're evil, do you know that? Evil." Lilith said, looking at the clock, "It's already time to get going. You go up on deck then, be a party pooper."

"If I'm a party pooper than what does that make you?" Miyu asked Lilith laughing at her childish antics as she reached the door that led out into the hallway.

"The toilet paper." Lilith replied with a joking smile as she stuck her tongue out at Miyu and left the room.

Miyu sighed, looking up at the ceiling, it was already evening... the day seemed to go by so fast. She sincerely hoped Lilith had fun at the dance, it was what she had been looking forward to ever since they'd arrived on the boat.

But she had other things on her mind. And she needed a good place to clear her head so of course she went up on deck, clad in her usual kimono (which many a guest had stared at her for), walking around barefoot. Since there was no one there to see her anyway.

She sat at one of the benches, looking up at the starry sky... the stars really were beautiful when you were far away from the city limits...

...it was so silent-- the dull trill of laughter and music from the crystal ball room seemed to fade away as she was engulfed in her thoughts.

She really did almost feel as if she was all by herself...

"Didn't expect to see you so soon after our last meeting." a voice said, and she recognized it to be Larva withou even opening her eyes.

Though she did move to sit on her feet to cover the fact that she wasn't wearing any shoes. "Good evening."

"Why aren't you at the dance?" came their question in unison.

"...You go first." Larva said with a chuckle.

"I wanted to be alone."

"Ah."

"What about you? Why aren't you there? It seems the perfect place for someone like _you_." she muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Larva asked, raising an eyebrow at the seemingly annoyed girl.

Miyu shook her head, "Disregard it if you don't know what I'm talking about, unless you're just playing innocent of course. So what's the reason you aren't at the dance? You seem to be avoiding answering."

"Because my answer is the same as yours." he lied.

Miyu eyed him suspiciously, "As you can see I got here first."

"You want me to leave?" Larva asked surprised.

"Yes."

This was certainly a first for the cerulean-haired one, he had never ever been told to leave by a woman. ...Ever.

"That's a bit harsh don't you think?" Larva asked, purposely moving and sitting right beside her. "What are you afraid of?"

"Does this look like the face of someone who is afraid?" Miyu asked, looking him straight in the eye, her gaze unwavering.

And strange enough, another first for Larva happened.

After the stinging sensation right beneath his eye subsided and after he saw Miyu head back inside in quite a huffy manner he realized exactly what he had done.

He had kissed her.

He had made the first move...

Which was very unsual to say the least, in fact it hadn't happened before.

'It was her eyes...' he tried to convince himself, '...hypnotizing.'

And thus Larva spent the rest of that night in a stupor staring down at the floorboards of the deck.

-----

To be continued...

Fantasy Girl: ...Well that wraps that up! heehee 


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